


Let's Start a Band

by hooverbraun



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Attempt at Humor, Band Fic, Battle of the Bands, Character's Name Spelled as Bertholdt, Dialogue Heavy, Gen, Not Shippy, RBA starts a band, i just want the warriors to be happy ok, like barely any shipping, most characters included
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:48:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27105247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hooverbraun/pseuds/hooverbraun
Summary: Reiner and Bertholdt approach Annie with a proposition - start a band together to enter their school's competition to see who will play at the school dance.
Relationships: Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss/Ymir, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Porco Galliard/Pieck
Kudos: 12





	Let's Start a Band

When they had first appeared outside of her math classroom, Annie assumed they were just there to talk to somebody else. Probably one of Reiner's football friends. Besides, they hadn't talked to her in years. Not since they had started high school. Just as the bell rang, and people started to file out of the classroom, she noticed that they hadn't left with anyone else. Annie furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head, leaning against a desk. They were probably waiting for somebody who also had to speak with the teacher. She looked over again. Reiner's arms were crossed, his finger tapping against his bicep, and Bertholdt was tapping his foot impatiently.

What were they doing?

"Miss Leonhart?" the teacher asked, raising an eyebrow. "Do you need to speak with me?"

"Yes," she said, pulling a paper out of her backpack. "My test, I think you marked a point off on the right answer."

The teacher stuck their hand out, raising their eyebrows.

"Number sixteen," Annie said.

"Right," the teacher said under their breath, narrowing their eyes at the problem. "Oh. I did. Let me fix that." They scribbled something on a sticky note. "Your grade should be fixed by tonight."

"Thanks," Annie said, nodding. She turned to leave, and saw they were still there. Only this time, she made direct eye contact with Bertholdt. He reached over and slapped Reiner's arm, causing the latter to look up.

No, they had to be waiting for somebody else. Right? Annie looked over her shoulder and looked at the two other students. One of them played football. Of course. They had to be waiting for him. Reiner and Bertholdt weren't looking at her, they were looking at the other student.

Annie swung her backpack over her other shoulder and headed towards the door, managing to successfully open it and advance two steps before she heard her name, said in Reiner's voice. Oh. So they were waiting for her.

"Annie," Reiner repeated when she didn't turn around.

"Yeah?" she asked, looking over her shoulder. "Do you need something?"

"Sheesh. Cold," Reiner said, raising his hands. "Well, I guess that much hasn't changed, huh, Bertl?"

Annie rolled her eyes and pivoted so that she was facing the two of them.

"And I see you haven't changed since fourth grade either, Reiner," she said. "What do you want?"

"What, can't two old friends - " Reiner began, but was cut off by Annie.

"No, not you," she said, causing Reiner to raise his eyebrows in surprise and Bertholdt to look down at his feet. "You two haven't talked to me since the last day of eighth grade."

"It's not like you  _ wanted _ us to talk to you," Reiner muttered.

"Just tell her, Reiner," Bertholdt said, looking back up.

"Well, I don't want to tell her now," he said.

"Okay. End of conversation, then," Annie said, turning again and once again successfully taking two steps forward, only to be stopped, but this time, by Bertholdt.

"Annie, wait!" he exclaimed, taking a step towards her.

"What?" she asked sharply, turning and glaring at the two of them. Bertholdt took a step back, accidentally hitting Reiner.

"Do you still, um, do you still play the guitar?" Bertholdt asked. Annie's eyes widened.

"Why?"

Reiner reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled sheet of paper, smoothing it out before handing it to Annie. Her eyes narrowed as she read the words, in bold font.

"A...competition," she said. Annie looked back up at them. "To see what band gets to play at the homecoming dance. Why are you showing me this?"

"We want you to start a band with us," Reiner said. "To compete."

"No," she said flatly.

"What?!" Reiner exclaimed. "You haven't even thought about it."

"And I don't need to," she said, forcing the paper back into Reiner's hands. "I'm not starting a band with the two of you."

"Why not?" Reiner asked.

"Well, for starters, when's the last time the two of you actually picked up your instruments? Hm? Bertholdt, have you even looked at your drum set recently?" she asked. "Reiner, have you touched your bass since eighth grade?"

"I mean, I may be a little rusty, but - " Reiner began.

"And why do the two of you want to do it so badly?" she asked. "I mean, out of everyone at this school, I'd never think that our football star and our standout volleyball player would want to do anything that infringes with their sports."

"Annie, just - " Bertholdt began, but was interrupted by the ringing of the bell.

"The answer is no. Okay?" she said, turning and managing to finally walk away from the two of them.

She closed her eyes and shook her head again as she walked. That had to have been the weirdest conversation she had ever had. It was just so...out of place. No, not out of place. Random was a better word. Random, weird, unusual...it was just weird. They hadn't talked to her in four years, and all of the sudden, they wanted to start a band with her? Annie looked over her shoulder. Their backs were turned, and they were walking in the opposite direction.

_ Weird _ .

Annie pushed through the crowded hallway to her locker, swinging it open, stuffing her math books into it, and picking up her guitar and a blank notebook. She was about to turn and walk to the empty classroom she always spent her lunch in, but something stopped her. No, it wasn't Reiner or Bertholdt this time. It was a voice she didn't recognize, and it wasn't saying her name.

"What? Like a battle of the bands, or something?" the owner had said. Annie looked over to the source of it and found three people clustered together, looking at the same brightly-colored page Reiner had given her. She couldn't see their faces, so she couldn't see who the voice belonged to.

"You want to join?" another voice said.

"Well, I mean," a third voice added, laughing. "It would be fun. Besides, we're seniors. And we've never done anything like this."

It was that simple for them? Did any of them know how to play an instrument?

Annie blocked out their conversation, walking through the hallway. On the way to the classroom, she saw a poster advertising the same event. The deadline to join was on Friday. Ten minutes after the end of the school day.

Today. Why had Reiner and Bertholdt waited until the last day?

She ignored the flyer and continued straight until she reached the classroom. However, there was an issue. When she twisted the handle, the door didn't open. It was locked.

"What?" she said under her breath, trying to force the handle to turn. The door was never locked. Why would they lock it all of the sudden? Annie sighed, her head falling against the door. Well, the hallway looked empty enough. She slid down the wall and opened her guitar case. Nobody was walking by. It was like she was in the classroom. All alone, where nobody could hear her play. She picked the guitar up and began to strum nonchalantly, listening as the music filled the empty hallway. It was...nice.

She didn't know how much time had passed of her just sitting there, strumming, when her music was abruptly interrupted by somebody saying her name.

"Hm?" she asked, stopping, and looking up. Annie tilted her head. "Mr. Smith?"

Erwin Smith. Her history teacher, and also the teacher in charge of the associated student body. 

"Annie, I didn't know you played the guitar so well," he said.

"Oh, no," she said, shaking her head and standing up. "I just do this as a hobby."

"Well," Mr. Smith said, "I don't know if you've heard, but - "

He trailed off as Annie put two and two together. If he was the teacher in charge of ASB, that meant that he was the teacher in charge of planning the school dances, which meant that -

" - a sort of competition to see which student band gets to play at homecoming."

"Huh?" Annie asked, her eyes widening.

"Would you be interested in joining?" Mr. Smith asked, his expression expectant.

"I don't have anybody to join with," she said.

"Well, if you can find two other people who want to join, then I think you could be a standout musician," he said. "I mean, the band that wins gets to play at the school dance, and that's honestly pretty good publicity."

When Annie said nothing, Mr. Smith added:

"Oh, and I'm offering fifty points extra credit in my class to anyone who joins. Don't even have to win. Just join."

Annie's jaw nearly dropped.

"Fifty points?" she asked, amazed.

"I know it's a lot, but at this school, not many students have the incentive to do things like this. Well, think about it, okay? I'll see you in class tomorrow, Annie," he said, walking away, waving back to her.

"Oh, uh, bye," she said. He probably hadn't even heard her.

_ Fifty points. _

The two simple words echoed in Annie's brain.

Fifty points extra credit. She could really use that extra credit. She knew history wasn't her strong suit, and even though they were only a month and a half into the school year, her grade wasn't looking too hot in that class.

Was she really going to do it? Two voices clashed in her head. One tried to tell her that she would be able to get her grade up before the semester ended and that she wouldn't have to join the competition with Reiner and Bertholdt as her bandmates. That was the voice she wanted to listen to. But the other voice, as much as she hated to admit it, was much more logical, and in turn, much louder. She needed the extra credit.

"I can't believe this," Annie said as the bell signaling the end of lunch rang. "I can't believe this."

Annie sat through her final class of the day, her foot tapping impatiently the entire time. When the bell finally rang, she sprinted out of the classroom, running out to the courtyard. Reiner had football practice, and Bertholdt was probably starting his pre-season training for volleyball. Which meant they were probably going to get their bags from their cars. But she didn't know where either of them parked. She groaned, cursing the two of them for making her life so complicated.

Well, she'd have to go to the parking lot anyway, so she started running in that general direction. Would anybody know where they parked? Who were they even friends with?

Annie accidentally bumped, no, rather slammed into somebody's side, almost knocking them down.

"Hey!" a person next to the person she had hit said.

Annie turned to offer an expression that said "sorry", but stopped short when she saw who the people were. Pieck Finger and Porco Galliard. They had also gone to elementary and middle school with her. Maybe they knew. She had seen them talking to Bertholdt one day...right?

"Annie?" Pieck asked, straightening herself back up. "Why are you running?"

"Do either of you know where Reiner and Bertholdt park?" Annie asked, out of breath.

"Bertholdt parks a few spots away from me, and Reiner's close to Pieck and Colt," Porco said. Colt! Annie parked right beside Colt! Why had she never seen Reiner? No matter. She thanked Pieck and Porco quickly and began to sprint once more towards her car.

Seven minutes left.

"Come on," she said to herself.

She was in the parking lot. All she had to do was find Colt's car and look for Reiner or Bertholdt.

But there were cars trying to leave, impatient teenagers and parents alike. Annie weaved through them, running as fast as she could. There he was!

"Colt!" Annie exclaimed. Colt Grice. Yet another childhood acquaintance.

"Annie?" Colt asked, turning to look at her. "Why are you - "

"Have you seen Reiner or Bertholdt?"

"I think I saw Reiner head back into the - "

Annie cursed underneath her breath, turning on her heel and running back towards the school.

"Annie! Annie!" Colt cried out, but Annie didn't hear him.

Five minutes.

There! She saw Bertholdt's head sticking out from above the crowded chaos, and besides him, Reiner.

"Reiner! Bertholdt!" Annie exclaimed. The two of them stopped and turned, their eyes filled with shock and surprise. She sprinted over to them, stopping just in front of them "I'll join. I'll join the competition."

"Wh - " Bertholdt began.

"There's no time for questions! The deadline is in three minutes!" Reiner exclaimed. "Come on!"

The three of them took off into the campus once more.

"Two minutes!" Bertholdt yelled.

They were inside the building. All they had to do was find Mr. Smith's classroom.

"This way," Annie said, turning a corner. She saw the window into his classroom. He was still inside.

"One minute," Bertholdt said when they were at the door.

Reiner swung the door open.

"Mr. Smith!" he exclaimed. Mr. Smith looked up from a paper on his desk. There were three other students inside the classroom. Annie recognized them, or rather, their hair. They were the students from before, who were talking about joining the competition.

"Mr. Smith, the three of us want to join," Bertholdt panted, taking the paper from Reiner and putting it down on the desk. He signed his name, passed the pen to Annie, who signed hers, who then passed it to Reiner. 

"Oh," Mr. Smith said. "I'm really sorry, but you missed the deadline. One minute too late."

Annie's heart dropped.

"But - " Bertholdt began.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding," Mr. Smith said. "You kids just barely made it. One minute later, and I actually wouldn't have been able to accept this."

Reiner managed a lighthearted chuckle, but neither Bertholdt nor Annie laughed.

"Right," Mr. Smith said. "Well, the three of you are in. You should be getting an email over the weekend with more information."

Annie cheered internally. Her grade would be saved.

"Well, since the three of you are here, you might want to meet one of the other groups you'll be going up against," Mr. Smith said, gesturing to the students standing in front of his desk. "Annie, Reiner, Bertholdt, meet Eren, Mikasa, and Armin."

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone!! This is my first AOT fic, and I wrote it because I've had this idea at the back of my head for so long...a modern AU where the warriors get the joy and love that they deserve!


End file.
